


my shoes become hammers and my words become sand

by brandywine421



Category: Captain America (Movies), Fantastic Four (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2016-09-22
Packaged: 2018-04-08 04:29:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4290870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandywine421/pseuds/brandywine421
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Howard Stark funded the search in the Arctic for Captain America beyond his death; it was paid for in advance.  Last week, SHIELD was alerted that his body had been found."</p>
<p>Pepper scanned his face.  "His body."</p>
<p>"More than just a body.  He's alive.  He'd probably be recovering by now if the SHIELD lab-monkeys would let him defrost," Phil muttered.</p>
<p>She gasped.  "Are you - they can't do that, can they?"</p>
<p>He shrugged but felt better about his reservations since she was equally disgusted by the idea.  "He's been dead 70 years; I don't think he has access to legal counsel.  Stark would never sell his mansion to SHIELD and from what I've seen; the style may be easier for the Captain to adjust to when he wakes up.  And I plan on waking him up when I get him out of there."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> IDEK. This is just another AU for everything story where Pepper is a BOSS and Steve doesn't wake up in SHIELD custody.

# phil  
  
Phil believed in SHIELD.  He lived, breathed and would probably die with SHIELD's goals at heart.  
  
But watching the scientists salivate over Captain Rogers, his hero and inspiration, for the first time in a long time (since Barton, since Romanova), he questioned their motives.  
  
He was alive so why were they talking about extending his frozen coma?  
  
He met Fury's single eye and even if they only shared half a glance, he knew that he had to come up with some extracurricular plans in case his unsettled gut feeling was correct.  
  
  
# connections

  
  
"Did you sell the Stark mansion yet?  I noticed it was recently put on the market," Phil said after Pepper was settled with her glass of merlot.  
  
She raised an eyebrow.  "I think it's a little out of your price range, isn't it?"  
  
He flicked his eyes around the room.  She recognized the click of the surveillance blocker he carried with him everywhere and visibly relaxed across from him.  "I have the funds.  It's well fortified and the security system is adequate for my immediate purposes."  
  
"You want to use it as a safehouse?  Explain," she said, but the flicker of curiosity in her eye was her nibbling at the bait.  
  
"Howard Stark funded the search in the Arctic for Captain America beyond his death; it was paid for in advance.  Last week, SHIELD was alerted that his body had been found."  
  
Pepper scanned his face.  "His body."  
  
"More than just a body.  He's alive.  He'd probably be recovering by now if the SHIELD lab-monkeys would let him defrost," Phil muttered.  
  
She gasped.  "Are you - they can't do that, can they?"  
  
He shrugged but felt better about his reservations since she was equally disgusted by the idea.  "He's been dead 70 years; I don't think he has access to legal counsel.  Stark would never sell his mansion to SHIELD and from what I've seen; the style may be easier for the Captain to adjust to when he wakes up.  And I plan on waking him up when I get him out of there."  
  
"The mansion belongs to me.  I had loose plans to renovate it into an art gallery but I haven't focused on it since I signed the papers.  So if you were to suggest some construction or design teams to help out on site," Pepper said.  
  
Phil recalculated in his head.  It would be harder for him to monitor the Captain's recovery, but safer for the man to be completely detached from SHIELD scientists long enough to wake up and make informed decisions.  It might work out better but he wasn't sure Pepper understood the medical and scientific care and supplies necessary.  
  
"I want in.  I don't know about Captain America, but my grandmother knew Peggy Carter and she'd hex me from beyond if I didn't help.  You can't let them torture him, lock him in a lab - we have to do something."  
  
He's impressed.  "It'll take me a few days..."  
  
"You focus on getting him out of SHIELD's lab and let me worry about the rest.  Your hands need to be clean when this is over.  If you're linked to his disappearance..."  
  
Phil nodded.  "I was going to call in outside reinforcements..."  
  
"You did.  _Me_.  Give me twelve hours and by then I expect Captain Rogers to be at the mansion.  I have outside reinforcements, too."  
  


  
  
# fine lines

  
  
"Call Tony."  
  
The headset felt bolted to her skull but at least her hair was still perfection.  She needed to give her stylist another raise.  
  
" _Oh my God, why aren't you at these meetings if I have to be?  That Scallop guy -_ " Tony answered in a burst.  
  
"Scallion," she corrected with a smile.  
  
_"Whatever, he's such a douche - "_  
  
"Tony.  We had a deal.  You've earned two weeks unhindered in the workshop by going to the first meetings.  If you make it through two more, you'll get a whole month."  She'd had it notarized and witnessed by three lawyers.  
  
" _You're lucky I love you.  Where are you, anyway?  JARVIS said - "_  
  
"Jarvis isn't the boss of me," Pepper said, spotting her top choice for a medic for Captain America peeking through the front window.  "I'm working with the humanitarian branches, it's been too long since they had my full attention."  
  
_"Oh.  Yeah, of course.  I want to see what you're working on.  Aspen on Saturday, right?"_  
  
"I expect you on time and mostly sober.  Three drinks maximum before you pick me up.  You got it?"  He'd been doing better with his drinking, but after a marathon of meetings without her as chaperone - she didn't want to push her luck.  
  
_"Sure, sure.  Love you, Pep."_  
  
"You, too."  She muted the phone and pulled the headset off to greet Susan Storm.  "I'm so glad you decided to come."  
  
Susan shook her hand and hummed appreciatively at the bustling cleaners and decorators.  "You definitely caught my attention with the offer.  Private chef, indoor and outdoor pool and the best cable you can buy - I would have taken the getaway without a reason.  They already took my bags, so considering the secrecy - why don't you tell me why I'm here?"  
  
"Of course.  Will you be missed?" Pepper asked, leading the way to the first of the secret elevators that had never been really secret.  
  
"Reed and Johnny think I'm at the spa, they have to fix the hole they blew in the ceiling last week.  You're avoiding the subject."  
  
Pepper put her finger to her lips and didn't reply until they had walked through two scanners and a final retinal scan locked door.  "Captain America was found frozen and intact several days ago.  He's alive.  SHIELD has him - "  
  
Sue's lips narrowed into a thin frown but her eyes brightened with interest.  "If he's alive - "  
  
"SHIELD and Iron Man have worked together in the past but I don't trust them with a man's life considering they're keeping him comatose - _frozen_.  You're a biologist, a doctor, and I trust that you'll do your best to help Steve Rogers instead of trying to drain Captain America and experiment on his blood."  
  
"Are you sure they're not slowly warming his temperature?" Sue asked, drawn to the closest computer console and scanning files without instruction.  Pepper was proud of herself.  She'd made a copy of the SHIELD lab inventory for ordering supplies and downloaded all their medical data without having to reach out to JARVIS.  She'd been with Tony too long not to pick up some of his hacking skills by osmosis.  
  
"No," Pepper said honestly.  "I'm not a scientist, but what if he's conscious in there?  They say coma patients can hear when their families talk to them, what if all he hears are scientists?"  
  
Sue paused long enough to clutch her arm.  "Hey.  We're not going to let that happen.  People are not experiments.  Where is he?"  
  
"ETA three hours," Pepper replied automatically.  
  
Sue shook her gently.  "Good.  Now let's talk through these files and I'll tell you what else we need to get this place ready."  
  


  
# defrost

  
  
The gurney that that the 'construction crew' brought downstairs carried a block of ice, not a man and Pepper took back every remotely nice thought she'd had about SHIELD.  
  
Pepper turned to Phil before he could step off the elevator.  "This is where you tag out.  I'll let you know when there's something to know."  
  
Phil didn't argue and she didn't feel guilty until he was already gone.  He would have a shitstorm to deal with if Captain America disappeared on his watch.  
  
Sue was barking orders at the lingering staff and had an impressive stack of tools and blankets by the time she ordered everyone out.  
  
Pepper moved to her side.  They'd moved the block of ice to a cushioned, and heated, hospital bed.  
  
"He's producing body heat and I want this ice off.  I'm going to make some cracks and then push in with my power to break the shell.  As soon as it's gone, we'll get the blankets on him.  We'll need to cut his clothes off but his systems are already switching back on.  I want to suction his lungs but the ice has to melt - " Sue listed off.  
  
"Hey.  Crack the shell and we'll do the blankets and then worry about the rest," Pepper said  
  


  
# risen  
  
"His lungs are clear, why isn't he waking up?"  
  
"We may have pushed him too fast.  I think you have messages, Pepper, the computer keeps flashing alerts for you."  
  
"Dammit.  I'll be back."  
  
It was the same soft, kind, voices from earlier.  Not the eager scientists with needles and cameras.  Not the barking soldiers with icepicks.  
  
He judged the distance of the voices and tried for the first time in a long time to open his eyes.  
  
Light.  Oh god, color - more than white - there were red and green lights.  He was wet, and warm.  
  
This was different from any dream he'd had in a while.  It felt…real.  Too real.  
  
Maybe he'd served his time in purgatory, but he'd hoped they didn't have machines like this in heaven.  Maybe hell.  Maybe he'd finally been judged for downstairs instead of upstairs.  He'd been looking forward to seeing his Mom.  Bucky.  But hell would at least be a change from cold white.  
  
"Stats are perking up, you're doing great," the woman's voice lilted toward him from her perch in the corner with all the TV screens flashing numbers and graph lines in color.  Not white.    
  
He opened his eyes again and slowly raised his hand and held it up to the light.  He could move.  He could move and there was color and he was warm.  Not frozen.  Not dead?  
  
Considering the pain from the ice and the heat battling for his flesh, he wanted to believe it.  Until the dream blipped out like all the rest.  
  
He took a deep breath and regretted it immediately as the ice shook loose in his lungs and revolted.  He rolled and choked up water and ice and salt.  
  
"Shit, hey, just calm down, let me help you," the woman, blonde and beautiful, filled his vision and her hands were hot on his back, massaging his spasming muscles as his body tried to purge itself clean.  "I should have tapped your lungs but I didn't want to poke you with anything after what those bastards did to you in the lab.  You're safe here, we made sure of it.  Take your time, hon."  
  
He didn't have much choice and when he finally managed to take a breath, she pushed an oxygen mask over his face.  
  
"My name's Susan Storm."  
  
"Doctor?" He asked.  He could talk.  She could hear him.  
  
"Sometimes.  Do you know what happened to you?"  
  
"Crashed a plane.  Think it was a long time ago.  Everything - it's not white anymore.  All I could see was white…"  
  
"Okay," she said, smoothing her fingers through his wet hair.  It was nice.  No one had touched him in so long.  He hoped this dream would last a little longer.  
  
"Where am I?"  
  
"New York State.  It's 2014,  I'm so sorry," she whispered.  "We, sort of, stole you out of a military lab with SHIELD."  
  
"I...sort of remember.  A guy talked at me about it.  I think I was in a truck.  Or something.  Couldn't see.  What's SHIELD?" Steve asked.  "Did we win the war?"  
  
A woman with light red hair stepped into the room and immediately flushed with surprise.  "He's awake?  How is he?"  
  
"Curious.  Do you want to clean yourself up so I can check you out while Pepper, this is Pepper, goes through things with you?" Sue said to him.  
  
"Wait.  Who are you?"  He needed to know who these strangers were pretending to be.  
  
Pepper moved forward.  "That would help, wouldn't it?  My grandmother worked with Peggy Carter.  And I'm dating Howard Stark's son, but he wasn't exactly close with his father."  
  
"They're dead?"  
  
"I'm sorry," Sue said, squeezing his shoulder.  She was too nice to be real.  Was everyone this beautiful in the future?  Maybe he just had a burst of inspiration in his ice coffin.  
  
"Do you think you can stand?  You should get out of that uniform and into something warm.  We need to feed you and - "  
  
His dreams didn't usually work like this.  "Okay.  I don't fully believe this but I'm going to go with it.  I don't know if I can walk."  
  
"Are you in pain?" Sue asked.  
  
"Yeah but there's nothing to be done about it.  Where's the bathroom?  I don't think I've gone to the bathroom in 70 years," Steve mumbled.  He almost laughed but he didn't want to waste the energy.  He didn't want to waste a dream this lucid.  
  
"I've got you.  I'm going to give you a cup for a sample so we can check your kidneys," Sue said, lifting him up with strength she shouldn't have and guiding him into a massive bathroom.  
  
"Hey.  You don't have anything to worry about right now except getting warm and healthy.  The rest, it'll wait," Pepper said and held his gaze meaningfully before closing the door.  
  
He was standing.  Walking.  Not floating, sinking.  
  
He would deal with this.  He would make this last until he woke up back in purgatory.  He put his hand flat against the wall and tried to remember how to breathe air instead of ice.  
  
His body seemed to run out of fuel and he sank to the floor of the bathroom.  
  
His brain didn't want to sleep but his body didn't want to wake up yet.  
  
He was freezing but his skin was on fire, prickling with pain.  
  
It would be worth the pain to stay in this dream long enough to get warm.  He wanted to remember warm.  
  
The bright, plush towels were stacked on the counter and he forced his hand to reach and tug them down.  Blues and reds and deep browns - and so soft.  
  
The water would only turn him back into ice so he peeled off his clothes and bundled himself in the towels.  
  
70 years.  Truth or not, it was too much for him to deal with when there were thick towels to soak up some of the chill.  
  
  
# what

  
  
"How do you feel?  Are you still in pain?  You had some broken bones on the initial SHIELD scans but you seem to have healed - you're still healing - are - "  
  
Steve held up his hand.  He was more focused after she and Pepper found him in the bathroom and manhandled him into the shower with his clothes on.  They babbled at him and it seemed to tether him enough to strip behind the shower curtain and scrub down. "I don't believe any of this.  Tell me about SHIELD, they're the ones that found me, right?"  She watched him smoothe his hands over the soft sweatpants and clench and unclench his fingers before starting again.  
  
Pepper stepped into the room with another blanket and draped it over the bulking man's shoulders and made herself at home on the edge of the bed, not the gurney, where they've set up for his recuperation.  "It used to be known as the SSR but it's much bigger now.  The people in charge, well, I don't trust them with Tony and after seeing how they treated you when they found you, I definitely don't trust them with you."  
  
Sue nodded.  "My team works with the military, but only for things that normal soldiers can't handle.  Things are probably a lot different than when you remember."  
  
Steve hesitated.  "So you ladies are helping me out of nostalgia?"  
  
"No one should be treated like they treated you," Pepper said.  
  
"You have a team?" Steve asked Sue.  
  
She let herself go invisible long enough for the man to blink in surprise before letting it fall.  "Long story, but my husband, brother and friend were all accidentally hit with radiation that gave us powers."  
  
"Oh.  Okay.  I'll wait for the packet you promised on all that," Steve said after a long moment.  
  
Sue moved closer and put her hand against his forehead to check his temperature in the old fashioned way.  He shuddered and closed his eyes.  His skin was still freezing and he didn't work through the flinch, trembling.  "Are you okay?"  
  
"Colors, contact, heck, oxygen - I'm getting used to it.  I…I dreamed.  70 years of dreaming.  I don't know what real feels like anymore.  These clothes are really soft.  It's different here, this dream feels different."  
  
"You're not dreaming, hon.  This is real.  I can't imagine what you're thinking, but this is real, okay?"  He shrugged.  Sue moved her hand to cover his on his leg.  "We'll get you there.  We'll get you back."  
  
He nodded.  "You got a plan?"  
  
"Of course," Pepper answered before Sue could.  "I've called in Sue and another doctor, well, scientist, with no connection to SHIELD and they're going to help sort you out physically before we go any further.  Your recovery is my top priority.  Sue will have to go back to her team eventually, but Hank - "  
  
"Dr. McCoy?  How'd you convince him to help?" Sue interrupted.  McCoy was a genius.  
  
"He owes me a favor.  It's hard for a mutant to find a good tailor, especially when you're a giant, furry blue beast."  
  
Steve glanced between him.  "That's not nice.  A beast?"  
  
"He's a mutant, his hero name is 'Beast'," Sue said.  She hesitated.  "They had mutants back in your time, right?"  
  
Pepper nodded.  "I don't think it's common knowledge, but Magneto's a holocaust survivor."  Sue did not know that.  
  
"What do you mean by 'mutant'?" Steve asked.  "I served with a guy that had bone claws.  He was a good man, but he wasn't normal."  
  
"They have genetic mutations that give them powers.  It wasn't due to a space explosion or government experiments, it's natural selection at work, with varying explanations depending on what side of the debate you're on.  Hank's an amazing doctor, but he's big, blue and hairy."  
  
Steve blinked at Sue.  "Okay."  
  
"Just okay?" Pepper smiled, amused.  
  
"I guess we'll find out."  
  



	2. Chapter 2

  
# testing

  
  
"Logan?  Do you have a moment?" Hank asked, finding his friend brooding with a beer on the roof.  The man had a penchant for hiding in plain sight more than the early days.  
  
"What's on your mind, Doc?"  
  
Hank hesitated.  Working with Logan's lost history was usually Charles' task but he was helping Ms. Potts as a personal favor and didn't want to get the Professor's hands, or mind, in this until he knew what he was dealing with.  
  
Logan's eyes darkened.  "Spit it out.  What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing's wrong, but I need to ask you a question about your past and I'm trying to figure out how to do it without getting slashed."  
  
That didn't seem to lighten the mood but Logan waved his beer as encouragement.  
  
"Did you fight in the second world war?" Hank asked.  
  
"Yeah.  Remember most of that.  It's the 50's onward I get spotty," Logan grunted.  
  
"Bone claws," Hank stated.  
  
"Why does it matter?" Logan snapped impatiently.  
  
"Did you meet Captain America?"  
  
"God, really?  Thousands of people in that war and you ask me about one man?" The blip of hesitation before his reply answered Hank's unasked meaning.  
  
"Well, yes.  Did you know him?"  
  
Logan looked away.  
  
"I'm leaving tonight to help a trusted friend.  She asked for my help with a genetically-enhanced supersoldier who apparently spent seven decades frozen in a glacier," Hank stated.  "When she was explaining about mutants, which weren't acknowledged openly in the 40's; he mentioned that he served with a man that had bone claws and frequently started brawls on leave time."  
  
"Rogers?  He's alive?" Logan's eyes were wide and openly emotional.  
  
Hank cleared his throat.  That was unsettling.  "SHIELD found him - "  
  
Logan's claws flashed and he was on his feet and Hank growled instinctively even if he knew Logan wasn't a threat to him.  "They can't have him.  We're getting him out - "  
  
"Oh, no, that's been taken care of.  My friend asked me to help before the Captain was fully awake.  He mysteriously disappeared from SHIELD several days after his discovery and she's been watching over him.  She reached out to me because she trusts I won't turn him over for experimentation," Hank said.  "My medical training and confidentiality is what interest her.  She doesn't seem to realize that The Wolverine is the same mutant he's talking about; she brought it up to see if it was possible for one to have served with him.  Physically, he's recovering at an astounding rate, but she's worried about his...well, his sanity."  
  
"I'm coming with you," Logan said.  
  
"The professor thinks I'm going to a conference, we're trying to keep this limited to as few people as possible," Hank said.  
  
Logan narrowed his eyes.  "I'm coming with you."

  
# familiar

  
  
"I can't deal with this right now, I'll be home in six hours, Reed."  
  
_"You could be home now if you weren't openly lying to me about where you are."_  
  
She sighed and glanced behind her where Steve was absorbed in his his headphones and online history course.  It was playing at triple speed and it would still only last him a couple of hours.  
  
_"Sue.  What's going on?"_  
  
"A friend needed my help and you don't have the kind of science they needed.  I'll tell you everything when I can," she sighed.  
  
_"Is it dangerous?  Sue - "_  
  
She glanced at Steve who was paying rapt attention to the laptop and holding squishy koosh balls in each hand.  "It's definitely not dangerous.  But it's important.  I won't regret it no matter how unhappy you are with my decision."  
  
" _Hurry home_ ," Reed sighed.  " _I love you."_  
  
"Love you, too," she replied.  
  
She recognized the security car pulling up outside and hoped that Dr. McCoy was as nice as Pepper expected since she wasn't here to greet him herself.  They both felt guilty for leaving him alone when he didn't have anyone else.  Captain America was a hero, but Steve was a sweet, kind man who was entirely out of his element.  Pepper and Sue would be tag-teaming their visits from now on, unable to stay away more than a few days at a time without raising more suspicious.  She hoped Pepper was having better luck with Tony.  
  
She opened the door before the furry blue doctor could knock but she didn't expect him to have an escort.  She only knew Wolverine by reputation and she wasn't sure why the doctor would need protection here.  "Dr. McCoy, I'm Sue Storm.  I wasn't informed you were bringing a guest," she said immediately, shaking the man's hand and glaring at Wolverine suspiciously.  
  
The gruff man raised his fist and flashed the metal blades from his knuckles.  "These used to be bone."  
  
She blinked.  "Oh.  I didn't think...oh."  Wolverine's extended lifespan was rumored, but she'd never fully considered it as true.  She was learning all kinds of secrets this week.  Reed was going to bug the hell out of her.  
  
"Yeah.  I don't remember a lot of things but I remember Rogers," Wolverine said finally.  
  
Dr. McCoy gave her an apologetic expression.  "I only approached him after Pepper told me the Captain's recollection.  I didn't expect him to insist on tagging along."  
  
"It might help," she admitted.  "We're not sure he believes any of this is real.  We've figured out that he was partially conscious in the ice.  He's obsessed with color and, well, all his senses.  Taste, touch, sounds.  It's only been a few days and physically - he's in good shape, apart from a few blips."  Wolverine raised his eyebrow at the 'blip' part.  
  
"I'd like to see his medical records, but we should probably meet first.  Is he prepared for..." McCoy motioned to himself.  
  
"Oh, yes.  He's been familiarized with my team and media clips of other, well, superheroes," she said.  Steve was pretty accepting for someone born during the depression.  
  
"Potts arranged this?  Stark's a pretty big camera-whore," Wolverine said.  
  
"Tony's not in on this," Sue said.  "My team's not either.  It's too soon and we assume SHIELD is flipping out at losing him but he's alive and coherent and should be allowed to make his own decisions.  Informed decisions."  She lowered her voice.  "He's really...nice.  Naive."  
  
"Sounds like the Rogers I knew," Wolverine grunted.  
  
She waved them inside and one of the security aka house staff took their bags so they could follow her into the sunlit front room.  
  
Steve noticed them and pulled off the headphones and stood up to greet them.  
  
"Steve, this is Dr. McCoy and his friend, I'm sorry, I don't know your real name," Sue admitted as she turned to Wolverine.  
  
"James?" Steve asked carefully.  He was unsteady and Sue reconsidered letting the uninvited man into the house after he'd come so far out of his shell.  
  
Wolverine moved forward swiftly and pulled Steve into a crushing hug.  " _Fucker_."  She couldn't hear whatever he mumbled into Steve's ear but she could tell by the flash of his blue eyes that they definitely knew each other.  Still, It took a few moments for Steve to return the hug.  
  
"He didn't say he knew him that well," McCoy murmured.  "And his name's Logan."  
  
"James Howlett was my original name," Wolverine said, stepping back but keeping a hand on Steve's shoulder and scanning him intensely.  "Cap and I are going somewhere quiet to talk, where can I smoke?"  
  
"The computer says smoking's bad for you now," Steve said softly.  
  
"Takes a lot more than cancer to kill you and me, Bub."  
  
Sue walked over and caught Steve's attention, waiting for him to focus on her fully.  "Are you okay with this?"  
  
"He's the first thing I've really recognized since I came out of the ice.  Can I talk to him?" Steve hesitated.  
  
"I'm not your warden, Steve, I just want to make sure you're all right," she replied honestly.  
  
He smiled, almost relieved.  "I'm all right.  I need a break after 1986."  
  
"I thought you were still in the 70's," Sue said.  
  
"I skipped ahead.  The 70's were frustrating," Steve frowned.  "It's all frustrating.  I'm frustrated."  
  
"I know.  Go talk to your friend."  She pointed at Logan.  "Bring him back in half an hour, he has to eat.  The perimeter's armed but Steve knows where the boundaries are."  
  
"We'll stick to the garden," Steve said.  
  
She pointed to the desk and Steve smiled slightly and reached over to grab his bottle of water and a handful of protein bars.  "Make sure he eats all of them," she told Logan.  
  
"Why?" the man asked darkly.  
  
"I'm losing weight no matter how much they feed me.  My body hasn't...leveled out with being unfrozen yet," Steve answered.  "But you can ask your questions later, I have too many for you right now."  He pulled Logan out of the room.  
  
She sighed.  
  
"How can I help, Susan?" Dr. McCoy asked after a long moment.  
  
"Come on, I'll walk you through what we have," Sue smiled.  
  
  
  
  
# diagnostic  
  
"So what's the verdict?" Logan asked when Hank put down the tablet still scrolling with test results.  He'd seen enough.  
  
"James.  Sorry, Logan, will you go ask Alex in the kitchen for one of those big sandwiches?  He'll know what you mean," Steve said pointedly.  
  
"Fine, I'll get it out of him later," Logan grunted but stalked out of the room without another protest.  
  
Steve let out a tired sigh.  "No improvement?"  
  
"Numbers don't mean everything," Hank shrugged.  "You've lost two pounds since your last weigh-in and your temperature's 95.7."  
  
"Oh.  But I was outside," Steve said after a beat.  
  
Hank nodded.  "I know.  That's why I'm worried."  
  
Steve slumped.  "You're just like the ladies."  
  
He smiled.  "No one's like those ladies, Steve.  I work with a lot of unique individuals.  No mutant DNA is the same, there's no static similarities between any of my patients.  In my opinion, there's nothing medically wrong with you.  You're the peak of human health.  The serum, I can pick out the anomalies but it's unlike anything I've seen naturally."  
  
"Then why am I cold and hungry?" Steve asked.  
  
"I don't have solid proof but I have a theory," Hank said after a moment.  "You might not like it."  
  
"I don't think I've 'liked' anything since 1938," Steve said.  "Lay it on me."  
  
"You don't believe this is real," Hank stated.  
  
Steve blinked at him.  "I'm sorry?"  
  
"It's psychosomatic."  
  
"I still don't get it.  Wait.  You think I'm crazy?"  
  
Hank leaned forward.  "That's not what I said.  I think your mind has more control over your body than you realize.  You were in a sort of stasis in the ice, correct?  Your body was shut down, but your mind wasn't.  There are monks who have no mutations or enhancements that can control their body temperatures and slow bleeding with their mind.  I don't think it's a conscious decision you're making."  
  
Steve considered it and met his gaze with impossibly soft eyes for a mythical super soldier.  "I'm trying."  
  
"Maybe you're trying too hard," Hank said.  He wasn't as good at picking people apart as Charles but he hoped he was onto something.  "When's the last time you slept?"  
  
"Last night, it's on the chart," Steve replied absently.  
  
"Your brain never reached REM sleep.  You weren't sleeping," Hank countered.  
  
Steve frowned.  "I...it's warm here.  I don't want to...fall asleep and...freeze."  
  
The door opened and Logan stepped in with a big sandwich.  Timing was not one of Logan's talents.  
  
"I'll think about it," Steve said to Hank.  "Anything else?"  
  
"I wasn't gone long enough for him to brief you, bub.  McCoy's a good guy, you can trust him," Logan said, glancing between them.  Hank had a lot of questions for the man later.  Logan was notoriously fierce about people he cared about and he definitely cared about Steve.  
  
"Didn't you tell me twenty minutes ago that I couldn't trust anyone?" Steve replied sharply.  "I don't even trust myself right now!"  
  
Logan slowly turned up his mouth in a grin.  "There's the Cap I know.  Wondered when you'd get tired of being coddled."  
  
Hank held out the medical file for Steve to look over.  "Logan has trust issues."  
  
"He did in the 40's, too," Steve replied absently.  "I need to rethink this.  I've done everything to raise my body temp and weight and it's not working.  Next step, sleep, and when I wake up, it'll hopefully convince my subconscious that this is real.  I don't usually fall back into the same dream.  And if that doesn't work, and I still wake up here, Logan can call in his psychic guy."  
  
Hank raised an eyebrow at Logan who avoided his gaze.  He would definitely be speaking with him soon.

 

  
# patches

  
  
"How'd you get him to sleep?" Pepper whispered when she saw Steve sleeping soundly in the sun-room.  Logan was snoring beside him with his hand on the top of his head mid-pet.  
  
Hank led her back into the house.  "He doesn't think he'll wake up. Logan was friends with him back in the 40's.  Possibly more than friends but I'm not about to question it when he's getting through to him."  
  
"Has he held on to any weight?" Pepper asked.  
  
"About that.  I'm pretty sure it's psychosomatic, so having him rest for a full sleep cycle will hopefully convince him that he's not going to wake up frozen.  His body thinks he's having a particularly lucid dream.  He's sleeping on the softest blankets we could find, for the texture, and with Logan petting his hair, he finally fell asleep."  
  
"I didn't think Wolverine was known for being 'soothing'."  
  
Hank snorted.  "Yeah, seems like Steve brings out his softer side.  But I do think it's helping.  Where else would we find a friend that survived as long as he did?  Logan - his situation is different but he's - "  
  
"He's right here," Logan interrupted.  "Cap's down for the count but he's - he's still cold.  I think he's getting colder.  Wondered what your fancy monitors were showing."  
  
"What can we do?  I didn't research psychiatric care," Pepper said.  
  
"He's willing to talk to Charles," Logan said quietly.  
  
"Xavier?  But - " Pepper bit off her words.  
  
Hank smiled.  "He's very strict about using his telepathy, he won't get that far into his head.  I'm not even sure he'll be able to help but if he can, it'll be faster than therapy.  A bandage of sorts, to get his health up to par so he can focus on the rest."  
  
She considered it.  
  
"He's trying.  Cap always tries his best even when it's a lost cause.  More when it's a lost cause but I don't want him to think this reality is a lost cause," Logan grunted.    
  
"It's his decision to make.  That's the whole reason we got him out of SHIELD.  I'm not sure if the house is handicap accessible yet..."  
  
"He may not need to come in person," Hank said.  "We'll see how Steve feels when he wakes up.  I'd prefer to put off a feeding tube as long as possible but he has to stop burning off his weight."  
  
Pepper nodded decisively.  "Give Professor Xavier a heads up.  It this will help, let's move forward as soon as possible.  I knew this wasn't going to be a simple fix, but...I guess I'm too used to ignoring the whole PTSD part of the equation with Tony."  
  
"Drinking works for most of us," Logan shrugged.  Hank glared at him and he shrugged an apology to her.    
  
But Pepper only smiled and patted his arm.  "Keep watch, I'm going to check in with Sue while Hank contacts your boss."  
  
Hank pulled out his phone and dialed without having to navigate the annoying touchscreen and wondered if Charles would answer or make him call back.  He wasn't sure if he was teaching right now but he agreed with Pepper that they should be proactive.  
  
"Didn't expect to hear from you so soon.  How's the conference?"  
  
Hank hesitated.  "Imaginary?  I agreed to help a friend with a sensitive medical history."  
  
"Mutant?"  
  
"No, but his existence needs to remain confidential as long as possible.  Logan's here, too, but not at my request."  
  
Charles hummed.  "Why is Logan involving himself in your affairs?"  
  
"The patient knows him as James.  I didn't want to involve you but he's having some psychosomatic symptoms that are impeding his recovery," Hank said.  "I don't want to talk about it over the phone, but are you open for an outside consult?  
  
"Send me an address.  You've definitely piqued my curiosity."

 

 

  
# walkabout

  
  
"Okay, do it," Steve said, curling his fingers around his knees as if steeling himself for interrogation.  
  
"That's not the way I work, Captain."  
  
"Steve.  I'm Steve now.  I don't have my shield, I'm just Steve," the man said quickly.  He flushed.  "Sorry, that was rude."  
  
"It really wasn't.  You forget that I work with Logan on a regular basis," Charles smiled.  "You're anything but rude."  
  
Steve nodded.  "I don't know how this works, I don't know anything right now.  It's starting to feel more...real, but I can't shake this off."  
  
"70 years is a lot to shake off but I'd like to help.  I'm a telepath, but I give you my word that I'll only see what you decide to show me.  I'm not hear to invade your mind, I'll only go in with an invitation."  
  
Steve relaxed slightly and huffed out a sigh.  "Thanks.  Okay.  How does this work?"  
  
"I want you to show me something real.  Something that you know with absolute certainty happened to you that has nothing to do with anything you've seen since you woke up."  
  
He tilted his head thoughtfully.  "So, just a memory?"  
  
"Yes," Charles said.  "Something only you would remember.  Tell me about your mother."  
  
Steve hesitated but his eyes went distant.  Charles caught onto the thread and stepped into his mind.  
  
     _Coughing.  Wet, choked coughs echoed through faded hallways.  Charles had seen places like this on_  
_television.  A tuberculosis ward._  
  
_A weak voice drew him into a room.  Steve, tiny and frail, sat beside a bed holding a woman's hand.  She was  
    balding in spots and blood spotted her lips._  
  
_"Pray with me, baby," she rasped.  A rosary was clenched between their clasped hands._  
  
"Sorry.  That's probably not what you meant," Steve said abruptly, nudging him out of the memory.  
  
"It was real.  Think about that.  Not the emotion, the grief - that can be a dream, emotions more than images find their way into your subconscious.  There were too many details for it not to be real.  A sketchpad with a clear image of your mother in better times, the nurse with the mole on her cheek - "  
  
"Hair grew out of it.  Mom made fun of her, politely and privately," Steve smiled.  
  
"Real," Charles nodded.  "Now, show something related to your time here that you had a connection to back then."  
  
"Logan's the only familiar thing in this reality," Steve said.  It was easier this time for Charles to trickle into his mind.  
  
_"You know Bucky's different now.  The scientists did something to him.  Experimented on him.  God help me,_  
_but I can't promise our side won't do the same to you if they know what you can do."_  
  
_Logan, younger, *James Howlett* the original flavor, narrowed his eyes at Steve.  Steve narrowed his in  
    return.  "You gonna rat me out, Cap?"_  
  
_"No, but I'm listing you on my team.  Nobody touches my team.  But if you go down, you have to stay down.  
     They will figure it out.  If anyone finds out - "_  
  
_"I know how to keep myself safe, Asshole.  I don't need - "_  
  
_"I know," Steve interrupted.  "But you're my friend and I need you.  I can keep myself safe, too, but that_  
_doesn't mean I don't need people watching my back.  If something happens to me, if they try and take me - "_  
  
_Logan growled.  "They won't - "_  
  
_"Then watch my back.  And let me watch yours," Steve said._  
  
_The boom of sudden artillery fire snapped both men's attention to the side._  
  
Charles blinked the smoke of the war he'd     never fought brought him back to the bright bedroom with Steve blinking at him owlishly.  "That wasn't like a dream either, that was - real."  
  
"It was a memory, not a dream.  There's a fine line," Charles said.  "Do you want to continue?"  
  
"Okay, yeah," Steve replied after a beat, scrubbing his hands on his jeans nervously.  "What's next?"  
  
Seeing the short scene between Steve and Logan, before he was Logan, had bolstered his faith that this man was the real deal.  And the faith that he was as good of a man as all the history books raved.  
  
"You obviously felt and experienced that moment.  I want you to close your eyes and try to remember the ice."  
  
Steve shuddered.  "That's what I'm trying to forget."  
  
"Captain, you need to be able to differentiate from real and dreams.  Even when you were in the ice, you say you knew you were dreaming.  You may remember the dreams but you experienced the ice."  
  
He considered it.  "I need to see the ice as the real part and not the dreams."  
  
"They may have kept you sane for 70 years, but you have to let go of them now," Charles said.  
  
"Don't let me stay in too long," Steve said, closing his eyes.  
  
     _Everything was white and dark at the same time.  But Charles didn't process the color as much as the cold._

_Cold.  Immobile.  Cold._  
  
_No panic, only cold._  
  
_Nothing.  There was nothing but white and black and cold._  
  
_Purgatory.  What sin had landed him here?  What did he have to do, to feel, to get out of this place?_  
  
_If it was hell, he was in the coldest part.  The worst kind of sinner._  
  
_He'd rather burn._  
  
"Professor, his stats are spiking - what.  Oh."  Sue stopped just inside the doorway with her eyes locked on her tablet.  "That's - whatever you're doing, just keep doing it - it's working."  
  
Steve took a deep breath.  "Okay, so, yeah, that was real, too."  
  
"But what about now?  Is this, what you're seeing right now real?"  
  
"It's not a memory, and it's not a dream."  
  
"Maybe now your body knows, too if these readings are right," Sue said.  
  
Steve's stomach growled loudly and Charles smiled.  "Let's see what Ms. Potts' chef has on the menu. 


	3. Chapter 3

  
  
# ready, go  
  
"His temperature's higher than normal now, feverish," Hank said.  
  
"He always ran hot," Logan said.  Pepper glanced at him, then at Hank but didn't ask her question out loud.  
  
"Logan.  How much do you know about the original experiments?" Hank asked.  "If you know the range of his body temperature - "  
  
"I met him on the front lines, not in a lab.  We weren't fucking," Logan stated flatly.  
  
"Um," Pepper coughed.  
  
Logan looked away before he spoke again.  "I loved the bastard.  But - he had bigger things on his mind."  
  
"Peggy?" Pepper asked, flushing in case she'd spoken out of turn.  
  
"Carter & Barnes, both of them had a chunk of his heart.   First kiss was mine, though." Logan's lips turned up in a smile before his expression darkened back to normal.  "I could tell his temperature, pulse rate, pheromones.  All that's instinct.  He's better now that Xavier's walked through his head."  
  
"Why isn't James Howlett listed as one of the Commandos?" Pepper asked after the words settled.  
  
Logan grunted.  "I wasn't on the last couple of missions.  Heard about Barnes and tried to get back, but - no point after Cap went down.  I never saw any of those guys again.  I punched Howard Stark in the face once, but that doesn't count since he didn't know who I was."  
  
Hank sighed but Pepper stifled a laugh.  
  
"What do you think SHIELD was going to do with him?" Logan asked Pepper suddenly.  
  
"I'm interested in how long he was conscious in the ice while they had him," Hank said.  
  
She squared her shoulders.  "My contact is loyal to SHIELD.  He wouldn't have sought outside help if SHIELD had good intentions.  I haven't talked to him since he dropped off Steve but I'm expecting a check-in request soon.  I want Steve to have a clean bill of health before anyone knows he exists."  
  
"I'd like to meet your contact," Logan muttered.  
  
"No," Pepper said immediately.  "If this ever comes out, I don't want the X-Men or the Fantastic Four linked in any way.  He'll need backup."  
  
"And you?" Hank asked.  
  
"She's got Stark," Logan said.  
  
She nodded.  Tony always had her back.  "Sue has to tell Reed because he's being a nag and I'm waiting to see how that plays out before I tell Tony."  
  
"If I know anything about Stark, you should probably do that sooner rather than later," Hank said.  


 

  
  
# stormy weather  
  
"Susan, I still don't see why you can't tell me privately - " Reed said, climbing out of the flying car on the back lawn of the mansion.  
  
"Because you're not the only person in this family, asshole.  Don't listen to him, Sis, and give me the scoop first," Johnny said, landing beside her in a flash of flame.    
  
She sighed.  "We help the military enough that I want all of us to be on the same page.  My page.  We will not help the military with this - human experimentation isn't - "  
  
"Whoa, Susan, human experimentation?" Ben interrupted.  
  
Reed took her hand.  "We are always on the same page when it comes to that.  What's going on, Sue?"  
  
"I was asked to help a friend because I'm a doctor and because she thought I'd understand the stakes involved.  This has to stay quiet," she said.  "SHIELD - "  
  
"We don't work with those guys," Johnny said.  
  
"I know, but they found Captain America and decided to keep him frozen in an ice coffin instead of saving his life.  So we took him.  Not me, but I'm definitely involved," Sue said.  
  
"Captain America," Johnny and Ben said together.  
  
She turned to Reed.  "I had to help.  Nobody deserves what they were doing to him and - "  
  
"We could have helped, of course you could - why didn't they, or you, bring it to us sooner?" Reed asked.  
  
Pepper walked up, relaxed in designer jeans and blouse instead of a business suit.  "Because I wanted as few people involved as possible.  Unfortunately, both of our significant others are suspicious and jealous nitpickers.  I didn't need a physicist or an adrenaline junkie at the time, and no offense, Ben, but it would be difficult for you to sneak out of New York.  Steve wants to challenge you to an arm-wrestling match, though."  
  
"Stark doesn't know either?" Reed asked after a long moment.  
  
"He's next, we really don't need anyone else sniffing around.  Come inside, we've got rooms set up for you.  Ben, you're separate on the first floor because we don't know how the second floor would handle your weight," Pepper said efficiently.  
  
"Well, I guess if you're going to have an affair, Captain America might be good enough for you," Johnny remarked, earning a nasty glare from Reed.  
  
"How can we help?" Ben asked.  
  
"He needs socialization more than anything at the moment," Pepper said.  "Logan's been a big help but I think he might have ulterior motives."  
  
"Wolverine?" Johnny chimed in.  
  
"He wants in the Captain's pants," Sue said.  "They knew each other in the 40's.  Dr. McCoy is our other consultant and he brought Logan along.  Xavier helped get Steve out of his head so he could heal.  He was semi-conscious in the ice," she added under her breath.  
  
"70 years, wow," Ben whistled.  
  
"How's he handling the future?" Johnny asked.  Sue didn't know if she should be worried at Reed's unusual quietness.  
  
"He's a very fast learner so he's adapting as well as can be expected.  Better, probably," Sue said.  
  
Pepper motioned to the patio and she saw Steve sitting at one of the tables surrounded by laptops and sandwiches.  "Now that he's keeping on the weight and his temperature's regulating itself; he's got a lot more energy.  He's taking a break from running the perimeter."  
  
Johnny popped his knuckles dramatically.  "I'm going in.  That guy is in desperate need of some bad influencing."  
  
Ben hurried after him but Susan knew he had comics hoarded away in fireproof sleeves.  
  
"Reed, please don't be angry at Susan, she only kept it a secret because I asked her to," Pepper said.  
  
Reed sighed.  "I can't say I haven't kept secrets from her over the years and it makes sense since I'm usually the negotiator with the military on our contracts.  Everyone underestimates her.  Besides, I found out before Stark and that's most important," he smirked, pulling Susan in for a rare 'public' kiss.  She knew he was showing off for Pepper but she also knew he didn't have to.

 

  
  
# threat level unknown  
  
"Hey, what's the emergency?"  
  
She knew she'd worried him since he showed up in his fastest, and most untested, Iron Man suit and she rolled her eyes instinctively before accepting his hug.  "That thing's not flight-ready."  
  
"Got me here, didn't it?  What's going on?"  
  
"Oh, Tony.  I did a bad thing.  One of your things," she said into his shoulder.  
  
"That...can't be good, no matter what you're talking about.  Tell me," he said.  "Who do I need to blast, are you hurt or - "  
  
"Your father funded the search for Captain America.  After his death, the searches continued under Stark Industries with money set aside."  
  
Tony gave her a genuinely confused look.  "So?"  
  
"So, they found him and gave him to SHIELD.  Like he was an artifact and not a real man," Pepper spat, the thought of it still turning her stomach.  "So...I took him."  
  
"Pepper.  You stole Captain America's body?"  He blinked at her.  
  
"He's alive.  SHIELD was testing him before they defrosted him, Tony - he was conscious, he knew what they were doing even if his eyes were frozen shut," she said.  "I took him."  
  
"You took him."  He blinked at her dully.  "Pepper, you should start over.  How did you even - "  
  
"I had help, the kind I can never confirm or deny, not even to you," she said, taking his hands.  "I didn't want you involved, they're always looking for a way to get their hooks into you and kidnapping a national icon is kind of a big deal.  As I am fully realizing now."  
  
"You - okay, I need more," Tony demanded, lacing their fingers as he bit back either rage or concern but intense either way.  
  
"I called in reinforcements, people I trust to care for him the way a real person, not an experiment, deserves," she said carefully.  "But he's stable, now.  He's amazing.  He's doing so well, even with the little hiccups, but we can't keep him locked up forever.  He can't stay hidden and someone's going to have to step up and take responsibility."  
  
"I'll - "  
  
She squeezed her fingers tightly around his.  "He's my friend, Tony.  You and Rhodey, you're mine and I want him on our team.  Not Richards' or Xavier's - "  
  
"You told Richards but not me?" Tony blanched.  
  
"No, I told Susan.  And Dr. McCoy.  He was frozen 70 years, he needed doctors not engineers or physicists," she replied.  
  
"This isn't going to end in you leaving me for Captain America, is it?"  
  
She shoved him but she was relieved he wasn't flipping out yet.  "Stop it.  Do you want to meet him?"  
  
"That's a pretty dumb question, don't you think?  If you're bringing home elderly superheroes then I'm going to have to meet him sometime.  What kind of hiccups?  If he survived the crash and the ice - "  
  
She hesitated.  "He has some...quirks.  He wasn't asleep, not completely.  More like a fugue state, limbo.  So he has a thing with colors and touch - not that kind," she swatted at his 'grabby hands' gesture.  "After being in a cocoon of freezing white for decades he has a tendency to lose focus.  The professor helped but we've kept all the medical and, well, mental, testing as non-invasive as possible.  I don't have a problem with mutants; but Sue and I are both wary of telepaths."  
  
"Susan and McCoy say he's healthy?  The serum?"  
  
"Saved his life," she shrugged.  "I trust them not to sell their findings, they know the stakes of being...enhanced.  You should probably also know...he remembers everything.  Clearly.  If he got a glance at a page in someone's address book in 1940, he could still write out the numbers.  He spent a lot of time in your father's lab."  
  
Tony didn't react immediately but she saw the moment he processed the weight of her words.  
  
"Schematics, equations, doodles - everything.  SHIELD can't - " she started.  
  
"They won't.  But you're the one responsible for feeding him and taking him for walks," Tony said, circling his arm around her waist.  "Now introduce me so I can start asking questions."  
  


  
# fanboy  
  
Pepper was safe.  Her life wasn't in danger and she didn't seem like she'd ruined his company or decided to leave him.  
  
Instead, she was wrangling dead superheroes and forming allies on her own.  She was supposed to do that in the business world, not the 'averting apocalypse' side of it.  
  
"Remember how I said 'color' was a thing?  Well, I gave him a room to decorate but you gutted the house before you sold it so don't get defensive about what he's done.  And for God's sake, Tony, be nice."  Pepper held the door open and nudged him inside.  
  
He felt like he'd stepped outside instead of another room.  The walls were alive with color, green forest and bright flowers and butterflies and dragonflies peeking from behind leaves and tree trunks.  
  
"Wow, your suit's amazing," Captain America said with wide blue eyes.  
  
Pepper snorted and Tony stumbled over his own hero worship from the unexpected fanboying from the giant blond.  "Steve, this is Tony."  
  
"I'd shake your hand but I, sort of, made a mess," the Captain said, holding up his paint-smeared hands.  
  
"How did you - I only stepped out for a minute," Pepper giggled.  Pepper never giggled.  
  
Steve shrugged and shuffled over to a section of plastic and dunked his hands in a bucket.  "Logan called and I dropped the phone in the paint and, yeah, mess.  And my phone is broken again."  
  
Tony mouthed 'Wolverine' with a surprised expression that Pepper avoided deftly and went to fetch towels.  
  
"It's nice to meet you, Tony.  Your lady, she's really something," Cap said.  
  
"God, stop being nice, I can't handle it.  I - my father looked for you."  
  
Cap looked away, scrubbing between his fingers under the water to rinse off the paint.  "Pepper said we weren't supposed to talk about him.  He was my friend and I miss him but I won't apologize for it."  
  
Oh.  At least he didn't bring it up first.  
  
"Sorry.  I was...frozen.  I'm trying not to think about it.  I have to be here now," Cap said solemnly.  "I read about Iron Man, I can't believe you flew here.  Finding out a Stark was behind that made more sense than anything else I've encountered."  
  
"Pepper sprung this on me, but I really want to help.  You were my hero growing up," Tony said finally.  
  
"You'd think with all the money the Army spent making statues and toys they would've used a little more of it to find the guy," a voice grunted.  
     
Tony didn't have much face-to-face experience with Wolverine but he knew enough about him to not trust him.  But Cap didn't seem bothered, almost relieved, and the guy didn't look that dangerous.  
  
"They had bigger things to deal with.  Every war has soldiers left MIA.  I could do without the statues, though," Cap replied.  
  
"How do you guys know each other?" Tony asked immediately.  
  
Logan nodded his chin toward Cap.  "I served with him.  A bit.  Don't remember much, but I remember him."  
  
Cap flexed his hands.  "His claws used to be bone.  I can't believe what they did to him, what our government did to him."  
  
"That's why we can't let any agency, secret or legit, get their hands on you," Tony said.  He'd seen the admantium claws but knowing they were bone first had to involve science that he never wanted to be a part of.  
  
Cap nodded.  "Two days and we'll make a move."  
  
Tony and Logan glanced at each other as Pepper appeared with towels for Cap to clean off his hands fully.  
  
"What kind of move, Cap?" Logan asked slowly.  
  
"Officially, Stark Industries made the discovery so it's their call," Cap started his plan like he was schooling the troops.  "I'll explain how I have no memory of how I got out of SHIELD but I was revived at a private lab with a staff kept on standby with Howard's contacts from his original rescue instructions.  I never knew their names and they wore surgical masks."  Cap pointed at Tony.  "You have tons of alibis and you're too flashy to have kept me to yourself and Pepper already laid out how I was found by contracts he had left over after he passed.  You're going to politely drop me off at SHIELD HQ, per my request to confront them and I'll take it from there.  I went to some of those legal websites and consulted a lawyer and they don't have any legitimate reason to keep me and I'll threaten to leak everything I know if they try."  
  
"Are you sure you're prepared for that?" Tony asked.  Logan and Pepper didn't seem to question the fact that the guy from the 40's decided he knew enough about the law in 2013 to protect himself from a secret government agency.  
  
"I've got another batch of files to go through, but yeah," Cap shrugged.  "I have a spreadsheet on the laptop thing."  
  
"Are you sure you're from the 40's?" Tony blinked.  
  
"He's a very fast learner," Pepper said.  
  
"Everything's so fragile, though.  I know these phones I keep breaking probably cost a lot of money but the ladies haven't been telling me who's footing the bill," Cap said.  
  
Pepper shook her head in Tony's direction telling him to drop the subject before he brought it up.  
  
"All right, hot-shot, what happens after you get SHIELD off your back?" Tony asked.  
  
"He stays here, of course," Pepper said decisively.  
  
"Pretty sure he's coming to Xavier's with me," Logan countered.  
  
Cap smiled, amused.  "I thought I'd 'couch-surf' for a while."  
  
"Absolutely not," Pepper replied with a pronounced frown.  
  
Steve held up his hands.  "Hear me out.  I can't show full allegiance to any super-powered groups if I make SHIELD an enemy.  I'm going to stay with Sue for a few days.  I don't know if I trust that Reed guy," he frowned.  Tony gave Pepper a triumphant look and she rolled her eyes.  "Xavier wants me to sit in at the school and meet some of the kids and you promised to take me to California," he said to Pepper.  "I need to find out their next move before I put down roots anywhere and this way, they'll know I'll have backup if they come at me."  
  
Logan growled and Pepper glared at him.  "This is a civilized house, stop that."  
  
"Don't forget the perimeter's electrified before you start pissing for territory," Tony snorted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea when I'll get back to this. But I ♥ it so much.

**Author's Note:**

> Title belongs to 'Blue October'.


End file.
